The Danger of Economic Desperation for RENs Expected to Be “Professional”
Malaysia demands professional behaviour from RENs while giving them an economic model that guarantees desperation.
We tell RENs to behave like lawyers, doctors, and financial advisors:
- Be objective.
- Be ethical.
- Disclose everything.
- Protect the client.
- Never lie.
- Never cut corners.
We dress them in suits, issue ID tags, and require CPD courses. Then we place them in a marketplace that pays them:
RM0 until the day a deal closes — if it closes — and if nobody steals it.
This contradiction is not small. It is the single most dangerous lie in Malaysian real estate.
1. The Maslow Disconnect: You Cannot Be Professional on an Empty Stomach
Professionalism sits at the top of Maslow’s pyramid. Survival sits at the bottom.
Malaysia expects RENs to operate at the top while the bottom is collapsing beneath them.
A financially secure REN can say:
- “This property is bad for you.”
- “This defect is serious.”
- “You should walk away.”
A desperate REN looks at the same property and sees:
- “If this deal dies, I cannot pay rent next week.”
Professional behaviour is a choice. Survival behaviour is a reflex. Reflex wins 100% of the time.
2. Commission-Only Economics Create Commission-Driven Advice
When RENs go 3–6 months without income, something predictable happens:
Professional standards collapse into survival instincts.
Clients sense this instantly. Sales trainers call it “Commission Breath.” It distorts judgment and destroys trust. Worse, it changes how RENs process reality:
A desperate REN becomes a biased filter.
- Red flags become “manageable.”
- Defects become “not serious.”
- Risks become “just proceed first.”
- Client interest becomes secondary to survival.
A starving agent is not assessing your asset — they are managing their own cashflow crisis.
3. The Starvation Cycle: How Good RENs Become “Unethical RENs”
Every unethical REN began as a good REN.
Month 1–2: The Professional
Ethics intact. Clean listings. Hopeful.
Month 3–4: The Anxiety
Savings depleted. First small compromises.
Month 5–6: The Survivalist
Fake pricing. Fake availability. Secret rebates.
Month 7–9: The Hustler
Sailang. Ghost offers. Hidden defects. Speed becomes the only strategy.
Month 10+: Predator or Burnout
Either leaves the industry in shame — or adapts permanently to survival-mode behaviour.
The system created this arc — not the individual’s character.
4. The Open-Listing Economy Makes Professionalism Nearly Impossible
Malaysia’s open-listing culture is a structural ethics killer.
With 50–500 agents chasing the same unit:
- speed beats accuracy
- volume beats verification
- deception beats honesty
- aggression beats cooperation
- sailang becomes standard practice
Professionalism becomes a competitive disadvantage. Here is the real table:
| Professional Behaviour | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Verify listings properly | Lose to agents who upload in 5 minutes |
| Disclose defects honestly | Deal dies → RM0 |
| Refuse bait-and-switch | Get fewer leads |
| Insist on paperwork | Labeled “difficult,” lose the listing |
| Follow co-broke rules | Buyer gets stolen |
In Malaysia, truth is punished. Speed is rewarded. Desperation always wins. This is why portals drown in fake listings: the economics reward the lie and punish the truth.
5. The Good Agent Penalty: Why Ethical RENs Starve First
Professional behaviour often means:
- telling the buyer “don’t buy this” → RM0
- spending 3 days verifying a faulty listing → RM0
- refusing to misrepresent pricing → lose lead
- insisting on agreements → lose listing
- disclosing risks honestly → kill the deal
Meanwhile, unethical RENs close faster and survive longer.
The market does not reward predators. It rewards desperation.
And the good agents — the ones who try to “do it properly” — starve first.
6. The Professionalism Paradox in Hard Numbers
| Profession | Minimum Income (Year 1) | Ethical Failure Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Doctor | RM5,500–7,000/month | <1% |
| Lawyer | RM3,000–5,000/month | <2% |
| Accountant | RM3,200–4,500/month | <1% |
| REN | RM0 (zero) | 60–80% compromise or quit |
We demand Rolls-Royce professionalism while paying Grab-driver economics. It is not just unrealistic — it is delusional.
7. The Blast Radius of Desperation
Economic desperation does not stop at the REN.
The Public
Receives biased advice. Buys defective properties. Loses trust in agents.
The Industry
Flooded with fake listings. High complaint rates. Low reputation. Good RENs burn out.
The Agents Themselves
Good people compromise their values. Many leave indebted, ashamed, exhausted.
The system doesn’t just fail RENs. It manufactures unethical behaviour, then punishes them for it.
8. The Only Real Fix: Professionalism Requires Economic Security
You cannot train ethics into someone who is starving. But you can build a system where ethics becomes the profitable choice.
This requires:
- verified inventory pipelines
- exclusive or protected mandates
- written co-broke agreements
- secure commission pathways
- ACN workflow governance
- automatic role recognition
- audit trails for transparency
This is the ListingMine thesis:
Fix the economics → fix the incentives → fix the behaviour → fix the profession.
A REN operating on verified, protected inventory:
- has no need to lie
- has no fear of losing buyers
- can afford to be honest
- can behave like a true professional
Security produces ethics. Starvation destroys it.
The First Step Out of the Trap
Systemic change feels overwhelming. So begin with one practical shift:
For Agency Principals:
Convert one open-listing channel into a verified, exclusive ACN pipeline. Measure the difference in:
- team stress
- conflict levels
- commission protection
- listing quality
- reputation
For RENs:
Reject one open listing this month. Use that same time to secure one exclusive or protected mandate.
Track the impact:
- calmer workflow
- better client respect
- fewer broken promises
- higher-quality buyers
- predictable commission outcome
One decision moves you from survival economics to professional economics.
Final Truth
Malaysia does not have an ethics problem. Malaysia has an economic design problem. We are not failing to train RENs properly. We are failing to protect them properly.
Until we fix the economics of survival, “Professional REN” will remain a costume — one that slips the moment the rent is due.
Fix the structure, and professionalism becomes automatic. Deny the structure, and desperation will keep destroying the industry from within.
